Fresh off of winning its first district title in more than a decade, West Marion returns back to The Swamp with Southeast Lauderdale coming to town for Round 1 of the Class 3A playoffs.
Despite the two programs’ recent history in other sports, this will be the first time the Trojans (7-2, 4-0) and Tigers (2-8) have met on the gridiron.
Southeast Lauderdale’s lowly record does not mean the team can be taken lightly, according to West Marion head coach Mason Woodrow. The Tigers are battle tested, meaning that the Trojans still have to come out strong against a team with a far inferior record.
“They play in a really tough district with Noxubee (County) and Kemper (County) who are supposed to be two of the better teams in the South. Then Enterprise-Clarke is a solid team that’s the three-seed out of that district,” Woodrow said. “They played really tough competition, so they’re not going to come in and be surprised by anything that we do.”
Woodrow noted that despite apparent quarterback changes, whether due to injury or otherwise, the Tigers have strong skill position players, particularly on offense.
Heading into Friday’s game, Southeast Lauderdale is coming off of a brutal two-game stretch against Noxubee County and Kemper County where the Tigers were beat down by a combined 76-0. But anything can happen under the Friday Night Lights, which is what Woodrow is stressing to his team.
“Any time somebody’s looking to pull off an upset, you don’t want to give them too much hope. You want to take care of business because the longer you give them hope, they’re going to make a game out of it,” he explained. “I told the seniors (Monday), ‘Starting this week, you’re only guaranteed four practices and one more game. You never want to look back with regret.’”
Kickoff from Trojan Field is set for 7 p.m. Friday night.
